Sands Through The Hourglass
by J. B. Tilton
Summary: When Piper suddenly finds herself in a world that seems frozen in time she must risk her sisters’ lives to restart the world.
1. Chapter 1

CHARMED

"Sands Through The Hourglass"

By J. B. Tilton

Email: K

Disclaimer: "Charmed" and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

(Authors note: This story takes place between season 6 episodes "My Three Witches" and "Soul Survivor".)

When Piper suddenly finds herself in a world that seems frozen in time she must risk her sisters' lives to restart the world.

ONE

Piper dropped the clipboard onto case of alcohol. She had finally finished the monthly inventory. Her bartender was out with the flu so he hadn't been able to help her. She had been able to entice Chris to baby sit Wyatt for the afternoon. Leo was off on Elder business or otherwise searching for whomever had sent him to Valhalla. Phoebe had to work and Paige had plans she said she just couldn't break. That left Piper to do the inventory by herself.

Not that she really minded. She had enjoyed having the entire afternoon to herself for a change. She loved her family but like most families there were times she just had to get out by herself. Even Wyatt, whom she loved dearly. Watching over him twenty-four hours a day was wearing her out. Even though she had spent the entire afternoon working she felt completely refreshed.

The temporary bartender would be in soon. She was glad she had been able to get hold of him on such short notice. He had filled in for her regular bartender on several occasions and there would be very little she would have to do to make sure he knew all the duties involved.

All in all it had been a very productive afternoon. She had completely finished the inventory in record time, she had been able to get some much needed time away from her family, and there were no demons around. One afternoon had been more refreshing than most of the vacations she had taken in her life.

She looked at her watch. It was three fifty. She had enough time to still get home and make a nice dinner for everyone. She hadn't had a chance lately to prepare a proper meal for her family. They hadn't noticed of course. They always thought her meals were fabulous.

She looked up as she noticed a flash outside the storeroom. She walked to the door and looked around. Nothing seemed to be amiss. She walked into the main bar and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place. Then she noticed one of the florescent lights overhead. It was dark.

"So that's what the flash was," she said aloud to no one in particular. "Just when I thought everything was all set. Oh well. It will only take me a few minutes to change the bulb."

She went back to the storeroom and brought out the ladder and a spare bulb. This was one of the aspects of running a club she really didn't like. The small details that constantly needed taking care of. Normally her bartender would take care of those things. But with him out sick she was left to do it herself.

After changing the bulb she put the old bulb in the trash and the ladder back in the storeroom. Then she picked up her purse and headed for the exit. As she passed the bar she glanced at the clock behind the bar. It read three fifty-one. Great, one more thing to go wrong. Apparently the clock had stopped working.

She considered checking it out but decided against it. She could take care of it later after she came back for the night. And most of her patrons wouldn't be worried about what time it was until it got near closing time. A twinge of guilt went through her as she left the club. It wasn't like her to leave something undone. But she decided she was entitled and left the bar, making a mental note to fix the clock when she came back.

Piper got into her car and put the key in the ignition. She turned the key over and nothing happened. She turned the key several more times with the same results. This was just perfect. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Phoebe's number. She hated to disturb her sister at work but she didn't have much choice.

Her phone had no dial tone. That was odd. She had put it on the charger last night like she did every night. It should be fully charged. Unless the battery was bad. She had had the phone for a number of years. It was possible it just wouldn't hold a charge any longer.

Piper got out of her car and started to head back into the club. She could use the phone in there to call Phoebe. As she headed for the club door she glanced out onto the street. She stopped and stared at the sight that greeted here.

Everywhere she looked everything seemed frozen. People stood frozen as they had walked along the street. Cars sat in the street making it look like one large parking lot. And overhead a flock of birds hung suspended in midair as if hung with an invisible wire. It was as if she had suddenly used her power to freeze everything in sight. Only she hadn't used her power.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

Piper walked out to the street and looked around. As far as she could see everything was frozen. Nothing moved, not even the air. Birds hung suspended in midair, cars sat motionless on the streets, and people were frozen in mid stride as they hurried to their destinations. It was as if time had suddenly stopped everywhere.

"Okay," said Piper into the air, "you have my attention. What do you want this time?"

She was sure she knew what was going on. This had happened before. When the Angel of Destiny had come to give them the choice of living as mortals with no demonic intervention or continuing as the Charmed Ones. They had chosen to remain the Charmed Ones. Only this time the Angel of Destiny didn't appear. After several minutes (or what seemed like minutes) Piper decided that something else must be going on. She looked at her watch. It read three fifty one.

That was impossible. It had been at least ten minutes since she had last looked at her watch. She went back into the club and checked the clock over the bar. It had the same time. And the second hand on the clock wasn't moving.

Piper had no idea what was going on. As far as she knew she was the only witch with the ability to stop time. And the only demon she knew of who could manipulate time was Tempest. But he had died years ago when Prue had died. Maybe he had managed to return from the Wasteland as Cole had recently.

No, that didn't make sense. Cole had been able to escape because he was half human. He had a soul. That had protected him. Tempest was a full demon. He wouldn't have that protection.

"Leo," Piper called into the air. "Leo, if you can hear me I really need your help right now."

Piper waited for Leo to appear. White Lighters weren't human. Whatever was happening maybe he had been unaffected. He wasn't just a White Lighter. He was an Elder. They existed outside of time and space. Maybe they had been protected from whatever this was.

After several moments Piper decided Leo wasn't coming either. Whatever was going on must have affected him as well. Or he was unable to come to her for some reason. She didn't have many options. She'd have to figure out what was going on by herself. Unless Phoebe and Paige had also been unaffected. Or maybe Chris could help. He was from the future. He might be protected from this.

"Chris, Paige," Piper called into the air. "If either of you can hear me I need you to orb here right now.

She waited a bit but neither answered her call. Chris was at home with Wyatt. She wasn't sure where Paige was but either should have been able to hear her call. Unless they were also frozen like everyone and everything else. She wasn't sure if Wyatt had the ability to hear her call but he was still too young to understand anything.

Whatever was going on she needed to find out fast. This could a prelude to a demon attack. If it was, she might need her sisters' help. Her only hope was to find them and see if they were free of this time freeze as well.

She decided to find Phoebe first. She wasn't sure where Paige was but Phoebe might know. Besides, the paper was closer than the manor. She headed down the street for the paper.

She estimated that it took her nearly three hours to walk to the paper. She had no way to gauge time so she couldn't be completely sure how close her estimation was. She had never realized just how far everything was from each other. Everywhere she went she saw the same thing. Everything and everyone frozen like statues. There were no sounds and nothing moved, not even the clouds or the wind. When she got to the paper her watch still ready three fifty one. Obviously time had stopped completely.

As she turned to walk up the street to the paper she saw a man standing several feet from her. He appeared to be in his early thirties, he was wearing what looked like a lab coat and glasses. He had a beard that was the same shade of brown as his unkempt hair. He stood looking directly at her with his mouth hanging open. He looked very much like everyone else on the street.

Except that Piper stared at the man as she saw him blink several times. Then she saw him reach up and push his glasses up from the end of his nose back onto his face. The man didn't say a word. He simply stood staring at Piper with a look of utter shock on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

"Who are you?" Piper demanded, tensing for an attack.

"You're real?" questioned the man. "You're actually here? No, that's not possible. You can't be real. I must be imagining you."

"You'd better start talking or I'll show you just how real I am," said Piper. "Now, who are you and what do you know about all this?"

"My name is Malcolm Spencer," said the man. "I'm a professor of applied physics at CalTech."

"CalTech?" questioned Piper. "That's in Los Angeles. What are you doing here?"

"I'm doing some consulting work for a private firm in San Francisco," said Malcolm. "I thought I was the only one who wasn't affected. But you can't be here. It's impossible. Anyone outside the bubble would have been affected."

"Bubble?" questioned Piper. "What bubble? What are you rambling about?"

"Look," said Malcolm, "I haven't eaten in what seems like hours. Frankly I don't know how long it's been. There's no way to judge time. Let's go find some place to get something to eat and I'll try to explain everything to you. At least everything I understand."

"I'm on my way to see my sister," said Piper. "We can get something to eat after that."

"Okay," said Malcolm. "But I'm afraid you'll find her in the same state as everyone else."

They walked to the paper and found Phoebe in her office at her desk. She appeared to be working on her column. She was as frozen as everyone else.

"I told you she would be affected," said Malcolm. "Everyone is. Everyone except you and I. Now, about something to eat."

"Okay," said Piper. "Only don't try anything funny."

"Believe me," said Malcolm, "I'm just glad to find another person who's been unaffected. Being all alone is rather unsettling."

They walked a short distance to a nearby restaurant where Piper fixed them both some sandwiches to eat. None of the stoves seemed to work and the few flames she had seen hadn't even produced any heat. As they ate their sandwiches, Malcolm told Piper everything he knew.

"As I said," said Malcolm, "I'm a professor at CalTech in applied physics. I'm here in San Francisco doing some consulting work with Merrit Industries. They're a private company that deals in a great many ventures."

"Yeah, I've seen their signs around town," said Piper. "What does that have to do with what's happening? And how are you involved?"

"It has everything to do with it," said Malcolm. "And I'm involved because I'm the one who caused it."

"What?" Piper questioned. "You caused all this? What kind of demon are you?"

"Demon?" Malcolm questioned. "I'm no demon. Demons are ancient myths. They don't really exist."

"Okay," said Piper, "so just how did you cause time to suddenly stop?"

"Several years ago one of my colleagues developed a theory," said Malcolm. "It involved alternating fields of electromagnetic current. I'm afraid the specific explanation would take far too long and be much too complicated for a layperson to understand. But what the theory essentially says is that it should be possible to create a static temporal bubble in a specific location."

"Static temporal bubble?" Piper asked not understanding what Malcolm was saying. "Any way you could explain that a little better in English?"

"Essentially," said Malcolm, "the theory says that by modulating specific electromagnetic fields to a particular frequency and interconnecting them at multiple points it should be possible to create a bubble of sorts. Everything inside the bubble would theoretically be isolated outside the space-time continuum effectively stopping time as long as the bubble were intact."

"Stop time?" Piper said. "Using electromagnetic fields?'

"As I said," said Malcolm, "it's much more complicated than that. There's a great deal more involved than just modulating the frequency of electromagnetic fields. Merrit Industries was working on a prototype device that was supposed to help us create the first static bubble."

"But something went wrong," said Piper.

"Yes," said Malcolm. "I'm not sure exactly what happened. I haven't had a chance to evaluate the results of our first test. All I know is that at approximately three forty five this afternoon the device went online. This," he looked around, "is the result."

"Three fifty one to be exact," said Piper, showing Malcolm her watch. "I was working at my club when it happened. So, if everything everywhere is frozen in time, how come you weren't affected?"

"I was at the control panel," said Malcolm. "When the bubble was generated it was larger than we anticipated. I was caught on the periphery of the bubble but not actually inside it. All I can surmise is that I was somehow protected from the time freeze. What I don't understand is why someone outside the bubble wasn't affected?"

"I'm a witch," said Piper. "One of my abilities is the ability to freeze time. Maybe that kept me from being affected."

"Witches don't exist," said Malcolm. "They're like the demons you mentioned. They're myths and legends created by people who couldn't explain things scientifically."

"Oh, we exist, all right," said Piper. "Do you have another explanation?"

"Frankly, no," said Malcolm. "But that doesn't mean I'm buying that you're a witch."

"Fine, believe what you want," said Piper. "You haven't explained why this static temporal bubble didn't work the way it was supposed to."

"I don't really know," said Malcolm. "All of our calculations were very precise. All I can tell you is that the device worked in reverse. Instead of creating a slice of time, if you will, inside the bubble, it froze everything outside of it."

"So time is still normal inside this bubble?" Piper asked.

"Yes," said Malcolm. "Time seems to be progressing normally inside the bubble but outside time is effectively frozen."

"So what's the problem?" Piper asked. "Just break this bubble and shut the machine down."

"I can't," said Malcolm. "The bubble is created by intersecting electromagnetic fields. It's created what used to be called a force field in the old science fiction movies. It's an energy field of such magnitude that nothing can physically pass through it. And it surrounds the entire device just like a bubble."

"Okay," said Piper, "how is it powered if everything is frozen?"

"It's powered by a miniature nuclear reactor," said Malcolm. "We needed the massive energy the nuclear reactor produces to generate the electromagnetic fields for our static bubble."

"Fine," said Piper. "How long before this nuclear reactor runs down? Even nuclear reactors don't have unlimited amounts of power."

"No, they don't," said Malcolm. "But they're the longest lasting power source known to our science. I'm afraid waiting for them to run down isn't an option."

"Why not?" Piper asked.

"Because this particular reactor is estimated to have a life expectancy of nearly twenty five thousand years, that's why not," said Malcolm.


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

"Are you saying that thing is going to run for the next twenty five thousand years?" Piper asked.

"That's about the size of it," said Malcolm. "Barring some type of accident or malfunction."

"What kind of accident or malfunction?" Piper asked.

"Like any machine," said Malcolm, "reactors need periodic maintenance. Like everything, if they're left to themselves they will begin to deteriorate eventually. It's the second law of thermodynamics. Without some internal mechanism or outside force everything naturally just begins to break down in time.

"It's the same with the device. Long before the power from the reactor gives out some part of will begin to break down or wear out. Especially the moving parts. The constant wear and tear on them will eventually cause them to give out. When that happens it will all be over."

"What do you mean it will all be over?" Piper asked.

"Once the reactor breaks down," said Malcolm, "the safety mechanism will malfunction. But the reactor will continue to operate. If the right mechanism gives out, say the coolant or something like that, the reactor will go critical. Within a very short time the reactor will overload and you'll have nothing less than a nuclear bomb going off. Not very big only about five megatons or so.

"Only the electromagnetic fields surrounding the device will magnify the explosion. It will radiate outward at an alarming rate. And the farther it radiates the stronger it will become. It will be like the ripples caused when you toss a pebble in a pool of water."

"And it will destroy everything?" Piper asked.

"Pretty much," said Malcolm. "But we don't have to worry about that. The machine is designed to last for a very long time. By the time it starts to break down you and I are going to be long dead."

"You sound like you don't plan to do anything about it," said Piper.

"I don't know what we can do," said Malcolm. "There's no way to get past the electromagnetic shielding. And that's the only way to shut down the device."

"So that's it?" Piper asked. "You're giving up?"

"Hardly," said Malcolm. "I'm going to do everything I can to find a solution. But it's not that easy. It took more than twenty-five years for us to get this far. It's not something I'm likely to solve overnight. It may take me a very long time if I ever do find a solution."

"I'm not waiting for whenever," said Piper. "Maybe there's a magical solution to this."

"Well I have to admire your enthusiasm," said Malcolm. "But you simply don't understand what we're up against. And some misplaced belief in magic isn't going to do us much good."

"Look," said Piper, "you don't believe I'm a witch. Fine. But I am. And believe me I've seen some pretty strange things. Plus I'm pretty resourceful at coming up with solutions to some difficult situations. If we work together we might be able to come up with something quickly."

"Can't say I disagree with that idea," said Malcolm. "It seems we're the only ones capable of doing anything at all. Everyone else is trapped between ticks of the clock, as it were. I just don't want you to get you hopes too high. I've been working on this for the last twelve years."

"All the same," said Piper, "there has to be a solution. We just have to figure out what it is. Where is this device that started all this?"

"It's in a warehouse a few blocks from here," said Malcolm. "State of the art security, for all the good it does now."

"Let's go have a look at it," said Piper. "I might get an idea how to deal with it if I saw it."

"Okay," said Malcolm, "but it won't do you any good."

"Let me be the judge of that," said Piper as they left the restaurant.

They headed down the street toward the warehouse. Piper kept glancing around expecting that a demon would suddenly pop out and attack. She knew, of course, that was impossible under the current circumstances.

The warehouse was just as Piper expected. It was one large open space. Filling one wall was a variety of machines. Sitting in the center of the room was the device Malcolm had told her about. It was cylindrical and about eight feet wide and six feet in height. A large rod type item stuck out the top of the item an additional five feet. A light was pulsating on the top of the rod.

Several feet from the item to one side was what could only be described as the control panel Malcolm had mentioned. It looked the control panel of a jet airliner. There were dials and switches most of which Piper couldn't even identify.

There were also several people standing around the room. Nearly a dozen people stood at various machines intently interested in those machines. To one side was a man standing at a bank of computers. He seemed to be talking to someone but there was no one near him.

"That's it," said Malcolm. "Dr. Whitaker," he indicated the man who seemed to be talking to an invisible companion, "was starting to tell me something when the machine flashed and I was knocked back. After that everything was frozen."

"Very impressive," said Piper. "I'll bet all this cost a pretty penny."

"You have no idea how expensive research like this is," said Malcolm, looking at the control panel.

He seemed to be interested in a flashing light on the panel. He walked over and stood about four feet from the control panel peering at it intently. Piper walked over stood next to him, looking at the flashing light. She looked around but saw nothing else unusual.

"Why are you standing here?" she asked. "Why not just stand next to the control panel."

Malcolm reached out and put his hand up. It touched an invisible barrier that became visible but transparent as he touched it. It was a bluish-white energy field that reminded Piper of Leo's orbing. It didn't seem to cause Malcolm any pain but it resisted his efforts to push through it. Malcolm pulled a pocket calculator out of his pocket and began to use it furiously.

"This is the outer perimeter of the energy barrier," said Malcolm. "I was standing right there at the control panel when the barrier went up. It knocked me back about twenty feet."

"Okay," said Piper. "You seem very interested in that flashing light."

"It's the warning light for the coolant on the reactor," said Malcolm. "It's dropped seven percent since this happened."

"And that's bad," said Piper.

"Yes," said Malcolm. "According to my calculations, the coolant will drop below the save level in less than fourteen hours. When that happens, the reactor will go critical. And then it will destroy everything."


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

"Fourteen hours?" Piper asked. "Are you sure?"

"Well, these are rough calculations," said Malcolm. "And I don't know if the loss of coolant is constant. But based on the amount of time it's taken to loose what's all ready gone I think they're fairly accurate."

"How can you tell how long it's been?" Piper asked. "Time is frozen outside that bubble."

"But not inside it," said Malcolm. He indicated a dial on the control panel. "That dial is an indicator of the total time elapsed since the experiment started. It's one of the readings we use when we analyze the results. According to that dial it's been just over nine hours since this started."

"Why aren't I tired?" Piper asked.

"No passage of time," said Malcolm. "Many things you are used to may be different."

"But I was hungry a while ago," said Piper. "So were you. Why were we hungry but not tired?"

'I can't answer that," said Malcolm. "No one's ever done anything like this before. It's all uncharted territory, so to speak."

"Okay," said Piper, "well looks like we have a deadline. Whatever you're going to do you'd better do it quickly. If your calculations are right everything is going to go poof in fourteen hours, give or take."

"It's not that simple," said Malcolm. "First, I have to figure out what went wrong. That could take hours or even days. Then I have to analyze what caused it to go wrong and formulate a way to correct it. And then I have to implement the correction and that could involve a whole new set of calculations and perhaps additional equipment. There just isn't enough time."

"Then make the time," demanded Piper. "We can't just stand here and wait for the entire world to be destroyed."

"I am open to suggestions," said Malcolm. "These are very advanced scientific and mathematical calculations we're dealing with. It took us nearly three months just for the calculations of the main program. And that was utilizing the combined resources of nearly a dozen world-class mathematicians. I can't possibly do it by myself in so short a time."

"Okay," said Piper, stepping away from the control panel. "If you can't do anything about it then I guess it's up to me."

Piper raised her hands and tapped into her explosive power. The power impacted with the barrier and exploded. But the barrier remained intact.

"What in the world?" Malcolm questioned, looking at Piper.

"I told you," said Piper, "I'm a witch. I have the ability to blow things up. But apparently it's not helping in this situation."

"Of course not," said Malcolm. "The intersecting electromagnetic fields strengthen each other. The more force that's exerted against the field the stronger it gets. So I'm afraid any physical force used against it is a total waste of time."

"Great," said Piper. "So is there anyway to shut this thing down?"

"There are only two ways to stop it," said Malcolm. "There's an emergency shut off switch on the control panel. It was installed in the event of a catastrophic systems failure."

"Looks like you didn't take all possible catastrophes into account," said Piper.

"Yes, well, it's difficult to account for the unexpected," said Malcolm. "If we could it wouldn't be unexpected."

"Right," said Piper. "You mentioned two ways."

"Yes," said Malcolm. "The only other way to shut the device down is to shut off the power being supplied to it. Without the power the device will shut down and the electromagnetic fields will dissipate. That should restore time to its normal flow."

"So in order to shut it down," said Piper, "we have to get inside the force field."

"Exactly," said Malcolm. "And as I told you there's no way to do that. The field surrounds the device an all sides and there's no way to physically penetrate it."

"Isn't there anyway past the field?" Piper asked.

"No," said Malcolm. "As I said, the interconnected electromagnetic fields surround the device on all sides. And there's no way to physically pass through them."

"I see," said Piper. "Well, if we can't pass through the barrier we have to go around it."

"Go around it?" questioned Malcolm. "I'm not sure what that means exactly."

"Come on," said Piper. "We have to find my sister, Paige. If we can figure out a way to unfreeze her we might just have a chance to stop doomsday."

Confused Malcolm followed Piper out of the warehouse.


	6. Chapter 6

SIX

"So just where are we going?" Malcolm asked as Piper hurried them through the streets of San Francisco.

"Back to my sister Phoebe," said Piper.

"I thought you said you needed to find Paige," said Malcolm.

"That's my other sister," said Piper. "Only I don't know where Paige went. I'm hoping Phoebe knows. If she doesn't we'll have to try to find Paige."

"Oh, I see," said Malcolm. "But Phoebe is trapped in the time freeze as well."

"Yes," said Piper. "We'll have to figure out a way to break her out of this freeze. I'm hoping a spell will work."

"Spell?" questioned Malcolm. "You are really a witch?"

"Yes, I am," said Piper. "And so are the demons I mentioned earlier. My sisters and I protect the innocent from the demons."

"I see," said Malcolm. "That must be quite a job."

"You have no idea," said Piper. "Tell me something. Why work on this static temporal bubble anyway? I mean it must be very expensive to research something like that. Wouldn't the money be better spent in researching cures for diseases or something like that?"

"Oh, this is only the first step," said Malcolm. "This technology has unlimited applications. Imagine a building that's burning with people trapped inside. If we can create a static temporal bubble around the building then rescue workers wearing devices that shield them from the bubble can go in and pull people out without harm.

"Or consider someone who is in desperate need of an operation but who isn't physically strong enough to withstand several hours on the operating table. A surgeon could operate inside a static temporal bubble and virtually no time would pass for the patient. They wouldn't have to put the patient under the strain of the operation. He or she would go to sleep and wake up when the operation were over.

"And those are just the beginning. In years to come this technology can be utilized for applications we haven't even dreamed up yet. Food preservation, deep space travel, there's no end to what we can use it for. One day static temporal bubbles may be as common place as computers are today."

"It seems to me," said Piper, "it could also be used as a very powerful weapon."

"Unfortunately that's true," said Malcolm. "But the technology is simply a tool. Much like your witch powers I would imagine. The tool itself is neither good nor evil. That would be determined by its use. Much like nuclear power. It can be a source of nearly unlimited fuel or one of the most devastatingly destructive devices known to man."

"You have a point," said Piper. "I guess I never thought of it in those terms."

"So," said Malcolm, "are these sisters of yours witches as well?"

"Yes," said Piper. "We're called the Charmed Ones. And as I said we fight demons and protect the innocent."

"I gather you stay rather busy," said Malcolm.

"More than I'd like," said Piper. "Sometimes it seems like there's a new demon popping up every other day."

"This is quite a lot to take in," said Malcolm. "I'm a scientist. I've always believed in what I could see or prove mathematically. And to my knowledge there's no way to prove the existence of demons."

"You seem accepting of it now," said Piper. "What changed your mind?"

"That explosive ability of yours," said Malcolm. "It defies all known laws of physics or logic. In the absence of any other explanation I must accept your explanation."

"Well at least we're making progress," said Piper. "We're here."

"I see," said Malcolm. "So you have jobs aside from fighting these demons."

"Well, we try," said Piper. "But it's not easy."

"I can imagine," said Malcolm. "It can't be easy trying to juggle a normal life while fighting demons and protecting the helpless. It must be quite trying."

"Some times I wonder if it's all worth it," said Piper.

"Now," said Malcolm, "how do you propose to unfreeze her?"

"That's a good question," said Piper. "I suppose a spell would work. I'll need a few minutes to compose one. Phoebe's the spell writer in the family. I can usually come up with something but she usually does a better job."

"If I understand correctly," said Malcolm, "you cast a spell and then the magic from the spell causes whatever you want to happen. Is that about the size of it?"

"Something like that," said Piper. "I never really thought about the mechanics of it. I've never had to. But I guess that's as good an explanation as any."

"I don't think it will work," said Malcolm.

"Why not?" Piper asked.

"Because time is essentially frozen," said Malcolm. "That would also freeze all natural, or in this case, supernatural, laws. You've seen the numerous items simply hanging in midair. And the fact that the sun hasn't moved. Not to mention that fire produces no heat. These all attest to the fact that everything associated with the movement of time have been affected."

"Okay," said Piper. "What's that got to do with casting a spell?"

"Well," said Malcolm, "theoretically, you would summon the magic. Then the magic has to move, as it were, to wherever or whatever you're trying to affect. If that's the case then the time freeze will most likely prevent it from moving."

"Do you always analyze everything?" Piper asked.

"Occupational hazard I'm afraid," said Malcolm.

"Well, we haven't got anything to loose by trying," said Piper. "Maybe the magic will be exempt from the time freeze since I am too."

"Nothing ventured nothing gained, as they say," said Malcolm.

Piper spent several minutes composing a spell. When she decided she had it finished as best she could she looked nervously at Malcolm. This would probably be her only chance. If this failed she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

"Thaw the icy threads that now bind, release my sister from this prison of time."

She waited hoping against hope that Phoebe would suddenly become unfrozen. Spells usually took affect immediately. But that was when time had some meaning. After what seemed like an eternity Piper realized her spell had failed. She had lost her only chance to free her sister from the time freeze and save the entire world.


	7. Chapter 7

SEVEN

"I guess you were right," Piper said finally. "Without time my spells are useless. And without a fire I can't even make a potion. Even considering I could make one before that reactor goes critical. I wonder how much longer it's going to be?"

"Nine hours seventeen minutes approximately," said Malcolm.

"How could you possibly know that?" Piper asked.

"Oh, sorry," said Malcolm. "I have this habit of being able to know exactly what time it is. Always have had it. Even though time is not moving for us I still know how much time has passed inside the bubble."

"I see," said Piper. "Well, I'm open to suggestions. What I don't understand is why my explosive power worked when my spell didn't."

"Probably because your explosive power is part of the physical magic that makes you what you are," said Malcolm.

"Now how could you possibly know something like that?" Piper asked.

"Simple physics," said Malcolm. "The spell would be an external power that you are able to somehow summon and direct where you want it. Similar to collecting solar radiation and directing it into battery for storage to use later.

"However, your explosive power seems to be more attuned to who and what you are. Your own personal power supply, if you will. Since you are protected from the time freeze it is logical to assume that your power is as well. So it doesn't suffer the same restrictions as your spells."

"You figured all that out from what little I've told you?" Piper asked.

"It's a matter of physics, actually," said Malcolm. "Quantum physics to be more precise. You see while we do no fully understand what time is we do understand a lot about it. Such as it moves both forward and backward. Anti-neutrinos, for example, are the only known element that can travel faster than the speed of light. However, due to a long technical explanation that I won't bore you with, they can only move backward in time. In order for that to happen time must necessarily have to move backward as well.

"We also know that time is not a static phenomenon. It moves or flows if you will. I've heard it described as being not unlike a river. It flows from one point to another. That's part of what our experiment was designed to prove. We have the theories and mathematical equations telling us how it works. We were attempting to demonstrate it. Off hand I'd say we demonstrated it very remarkably."

"A lot of good that will do if we can't fix things and everything gets destroyed," said Piper.

"You do have a point," said Malcolm.

"Maybe I should try my explosive power on that shielding again," suggested Piper. "Maybe if I try enough I can at least punch a hole in it."

"It would be like throwing a rock into a cloud," said Malcolm. "The surrounding electromagnetic forces would immediately move in to compensate."

"Okay, do you have any ideas?" Piper asked.

"I'm afraid not," said Malcolm. "Perhaps if I knew more about how your magic worked. That might give me some insight into it."

"That's hard to explain," said Piper. "I'm not sure I understand it myself. All I really know is that my ancestors were witches and we inherited our powers from them. My grandmother had telekinesis and my mother was able to have premonitions like Phoebe."

"And your ability to freeze time," said Malcolm. "Where did that come from?"

"Originally Melinda Warren," said Piper. "She started our line. She had all three powers. She was burned during the Salem witch trials. But I was born with it."

"And this explosive power," said Malcolm. "You were born with it as well?"

"No," said Piper. "That came later. Our powers increase the longer we have them. Actually it's not really an explosive power. It's kind of like my ability to freeze time. Only in this case I speed it up so fast that the object can't withstand the strain and explodes."

"So your ability is basically time manipulation," said Malcolm.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Piper.

"Speeding up time," said Malcolm thoughtfully. "That may be the solution."

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"Well, as you've explained it," said Malcolm, "your explosive power seems to stimulate the electrons that make up an object causing them to move faster. It may be just what we need to bring your sister out of the time freeze."

"Are you insane?" Piper asked. "I told you what happens when I use it. Whatever I use it on blows up. I can't risk that with Phoebe."

"It may be our only hope," said Malcolm. "However, I don't think you have too much to worry about. Your sister, as is everyone and everything else, is caught in what could be called an unnatural time freeze. They're unharmed except they exist between moments of time. If you use your power it might be enough to isolate her from the freeze and bring her more in line with us."

"Or it might blow her into a million pieces," said Piper.

"I should think not," said Malcolm. "You see under ordinary circumstances your power would stimulate the electrons of an object without any regulating force. That's why they explode. If I'm correct, and I believe I am, then the field generated by our device will act as a regulator of sorts. You would be speeding her up while it would continue to exert its force on her. The result should be that your power won't actually stimulate her electrons but simply form a shield around her so to speak that will protect her from the freeze."

"And if you're wrong," said Piper. "I kill my sister."

"And if you don't," Malcolm said, "everyone dies in just over nine hours. Including both of your sisters and you. Considering the circumstances and the time constraint I don't see we have any other option."

Piper looked at Malcolm. As much as she hated to admit it he had a point. They were fast running out of time. At least inside the bubble back at the experiment. And if they didn't do something Phoebe would be dead anyway. Plus there was no guarantee her power would even work on Phoebe. Her freezing didn't work on witches. It was likely her explosive power didn't either since it was basically the same ability only reversed.

Piper turned to face her sister. They had all taken drastic risks in the past. But this would be the most drastic risk Piper had ever taken. She wished Leo were here to give her some guidance and advice. She could certainly use it right about now. But without that she would have to rely on her own judgment. And something told her to trust Malcolm.

Saying a silent prayer that this would not be some horrible mistake, Piper brought her hands up and tapped into her explosive power.


	8. Chapter 8

EIGHT

"No," cried Phoebe, slapping the side of her computer monitor, "no, no, don't freeze up on me now. I'm almost finished."

"Thank God," Piper sighed.

Phoebe looked up and saw Piper and Malcolm standing in front of her desk.

"Hey, sis," said Phoebe, smiling. "I didn't hear you come in."

Just then Phoebe noticed everyone in the outer offices. She watched them for a few moments and noticed that no one was moving.

"Piper," said Phoebe with a nervous smiling looking at Malcolm, "what's going on?"

"Do you know where Paige is?" Piper asked.

"Yeah," said Phoebe. "She said something about going to a move with a friend. Why? And who is your friend?"

"Come on," said Piper, grabbing Phoebe's hand, "we'll explain on the way. I hope you wore comfortable shoes today."

"So you mean the entire world is frozen in time?" Phoebe asked after Piper and Malcolm had explained to her what was going on.

"Perhaps more than that," said Malcolm. "It is possible that the field extends far out into space as well. As I explained, it continues to increase in strength the farther it travels."

"And you brought me out of it how?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, well, that's a little harder to explain," said Piper. "It seems my explosive power has some applications none of us ever considered."

"Explosive power?" Phoebe questioned, suddenly realizing what Piper was saying. "Are you crazy? You used your explosive power on me? What would you have done if I had blown up instead of being freed from the time freeze?"

"She would have been very sad for the next eight hours and forty-seven minutes," said Malcolm. "But you were really in no danger. The device that has frozen time compensated as I knew it would."

"Lucky for me it did," said Phoebe. "So, if you can't blow this force field up, Piper, what are you planning? Are we going to use a Power of Three spell to bring it down?"

"No," said Piper. "Spells are useless right now. As Malcolm explains it they must be some form of external magic we're able to control so they're affected by the time freeze as well."

"So then what's the plan?" Phoebe asked.

"We find Paige," said Piper, "I unfreeze her, and then she orbs inside the shield and shuts the machine down. That should put everything back to normal."

"Orb?" questioned Malcolm.

"Yes," said Piper. "Sort of like teleportation, I guess. Anyway, Paige should be able to orb through the shield. If she can all she has to do is flip the off switch and time restarts."

"And if she can't?" Phoebe asked.

"We'll jump off that bridge when we get to it," said Piper. "Right now we have to get to Paige and get her out of the time freeze."

"She should be just ahead," said Phoebe. "Assuming she didn't go somewhere else first. You know how impulsive she can be."

"Just like her big sister," said Piper.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I used to be really impulsive," said Phoebe. "I'm doing better though."

They had just come to a theater and saw a line of people standing in front of the ticket counter. Paige and a man neither Piper nor Phoebe recognized were in the line near the front. The man had some money in one hand and appeared to be counting it. Paige stood next to him with her arm linked in his watching him.

Like everyone else Paige and her date were frozen in time. Phoebe found it odd to see Paige frozen. Piper's freezing ability didn't work on witches so even when she used it she and Paige had been unaffected. Of course seeing everything everywhere frozen had a very unsettling affect on Phoebe.

Piper stepped up next to Paige and raised her hands. She hesitated for a minute. Even though her power had freed Phoebe and hadn't seemed to do any harm it still didn't feel right using her explosive power on her sister. Still she knew she didn't have any choice. It was the only way to free Paige and restore the natural flow of time. After a moment Piper tapped into her explosive power and cast it at Paige.

"And I heard this movie is supposed to be up for a couple of Academy Awards," said Paige. "Austin? Austin, are you okay?"

"He's fine," said Piper. "He's just a bit frozen that's all."

"Piper, Phoebe?" questioned Paige looking around. "Is it a good idea for you to be using your freezing ability in public, Piper?"

"Actually," said Piper, "I didn't do it. Malcolm here did."

"Malcolm?" questioned Paige, looking at him.

"Malcolm Spencer," said Malcolm, introducing himself, "professor of applied physics at CalTech. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Piper, Phoebe, what's going on here?" Paige asked looking around again. "I though only Piper had the ability to freeze things?"

"As far as I know I am the only one," said Piper, taking Paige by the arm. "At least the only witch. What's happened here isn't magical. Come on. We need your help and we're running out of time."

"My help with what?" Paige asked.

"We'll explain on the way," said Phoebe.

By the time they had reached the warehouse they had given Paige the basic gist of what was happening. Malcolm had tried to help with the explanations but always seemed to become more technical than the girls could understand. By the time they entered the building Paige knew as much as any of them did.

"So this machine actually stopped time?" Paige asked. "I didn't know that was possible."

"Well until a few hours ago it was all theoretical," said Malcolm. "And unfortunately since it's all happening outside the bubble there won't be any substantial readings to analyze. And I'm not sure we'll ever be able to fully understand exactly what went wrong."

"We can analyze later," said Piper. "Right now Paige has to get inside that bubble and shut this machine done. How much time do we have left?"

"Not as much as I had hoped," said Malcolm looking at the control panel. "Apparently the loss of coolant is increasing exponentially. I'd say we have less than seven minutes before the coolant drops below the safe level. Then the reactor will go super critical and explode."

"So there's no time to loose," said Piper. "Paige, you have to get inside that bubble and shut the machine down. There's a shut off switch on the control panel. Just flip it and Malcolm says the machine should shut down."

"That may not be possible," said Malcolm.

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe asked.

"According to these readings," said Malcolm, "the reactor has already begun to malfunction. It's flooding everything inside the bubble with massive amounts of radiation. That amount of radiation must be affecting the controls. There's no guarantee any of them will function properly. Which means the shut off switch may not work."

"It's our only chance," said Phoebe.

"That's not all," said Malcolm. "The amount of radiation flooding inside the bubble is massive. Several times the lethal dosage for any living organism. If anyone enters the bubble they will be exposed to all that radiation. If Paige orbs inside she'll take the full force of it. And there's no way to protect her from it. If she goes in there she'll die within minutes."


	9. Chapter 9

NINE

"There must be something we can do," said Piper.

"I'm afraid not," said Malcolm. "The only way to shut the bubble down is to get inside. And anyone who goes inside it will be signing their own death warrant. No living organism can withstand that amount of radiation and survive. And I can assure you it's more than enough to kill any human being several times over."

"I'm only half human," said Paige. "I'm also half White Lighter. Maybe that will give me some protection."

"I'm not sure what a White Lighter is," said Malcolm, "but I can assure you that not even one of them would survive that amount of radiation."

"What if we unplugged the machine?" Phoebe asked. "The machine must be plugged into the reactor somehow."

"Yes," said Malcolm, "there's a connecting cable on the back of it. If we could somehow disconnect it the machine would shut down. But once the machine shuts down the electromagnetic fields will dissipate. All of that radiation will be released into the atmosphere. Now this room is specially shielded so that none of the radiation escapes to the outside but everyone in the room would immediately be exposed to that radiation."

"So if we shut it down," said Piper, "everyone in here will die?"

"That's about the size of it," said Malcolm. "The radiation will eventually dissipate without the machine running. But I'm afraid no one inside the building will survive it. And I don't think Paige can shut it down from out here anyway. Piper's explosive power won't penetrate the shield. There's no reason to believe Paige's ability will either."

"Isn't there any other way to shut this thing down?" Paige asked.

"I'm afraid not," said Malcolm. "There must have been a crack in the containment tank. The pressure must have widened it causing the coolant to leak out. And unfortunately the bubble is keeping the coolant inside which is why the radiation is increasing so rapidly. And according to the control panel the coolant will drop below the safe level in just over three minutes."

"We don't have any other choice," said Paige. "We have to shut that machine down. Once we do we can get Leo down here. Maybe his healing will be able to cure the radiation overdose."

"Paige you can't," said Piper. "Even if you can shut it down you'll take the brunt of the radiation. For all we know you'll be dead before Leo can orb in. And you know his healing doesn't work on the dead."

"We don't have a choice," said Paige. "We're out of time. And if we don't shut it down I'll be dead anyway. So will everyone else, including the two of you. At least this way we have a chance. And look at it like this. We're supposed to protect the innocent, right? Well I get the chance we rarely get. I can protect all innocents everywhere at the same time."

"Piper, she's right," said Phoebe. "I don't like it any more than you do. But this is more important than any of us. And she's right about Leo. His healing is supposed to be able to heal anything. This is the only chance we have."

"Okay," said Piper hesitantly. "But don't mess around. Just get in there and shut down the machine as quickly as you can. I'll call for Leo as soon as you do and he can heal you as soon as he gets here."

"Don't worry, honey," said Paige, kissing Piper on the cheek. "I don't plan to take any more chances than I absolutely have to."

Before Paige orbed inside the bubble she tried using her orbing power on the cable that attached the reactor to the device. Just as Malcolm had suggested the bubble deflected her magic away. It was quite evident that the only way to shut the machine down was to orb inside the bubble.

Paige hesitated for a minute. She knew the risk she was taking. But she also knew what was at stake. As Charmed Ones they had risked their lives on countless occasions to protect the innocent. In many ways this was no different from those other times. But she also knew that in this she would be totally alone. If something went wrong there would be no way for any of them to help her.

Suddenly Paige orbed inside the bubble. It was uncomfortably warm. And Paige almost immediately began to feel light headed. She could hear the low hum of the machine. She quickly moved over to the control panel and located the off switch. She flipped it into the down position which Malcolm said should shut the machine down.

She waited several moments. The machine continued to hum quietly. She could see the others outside the bubble but no sound penetrated the bubble. It soon became quite evident that the off switch was malfunctioning. The only way to stop the machine was to disconnect it from the power source.

Quickly Paige moved to the cable she had previously tried to orb. Her head was beginning to swim and she was lightheaded. A small headache was starting. And as she looked down at her hands she noticed that her skin was beginning to flake off.

It was the affect of the radiation poisoning Malcolm had mentioned. The amount of radiation she was being exposed to was literally beginning to cook her skin. It was like being inside a giant microwave oven. In a few minutes the radiation would completely overwhelm her and she would pass out. If that happened before she disconnected the machine none of them would survive.

She was finding it more and more difficult to move. The cable was only a few feet away but her senses were becoming distorted. Her vision was blurring and she was finding it difficult to think straight. She suddenly realized she had fallen to her knees.

She tried to rise but the exertion was overwhelming. She nearly lost her balance and fell over, barely catching herself in time. She knew she would never be able to get to her feet let alone walk the short distance and then pull the cable out of the machine. She would loose consciousness long before that happened.

Paige looked up at the cable less than five feet from her. It was so close. A couple of more feet and she would have been able to simply reach out and grab it. As she felt herself beginning to loose consciousness she stretched out her hand and called to the cable. If she couldn't reach the cable she fully intended to orb it to her. She wasn't sure if she had been successful. As she called for the cable she suddenly blanked out and lost consciousness.


	10. Chapter 10

TEN

"Well," said Malcolm, putting a device down on the coffee table in the manor, "there doesn't seem to be any unusual radiation in your body. I must admit that healing power of Leo's is quite amazing. I would very much like to examine it closer some time."

"Sorry, Doctor," said Leo. "That would be against the rules."

"So what exactly happened?" Paige asked. "The last thing I remember was trying to orb the cable to me."

"That's exactly what you did," said Piper. "The machine shut down almost immediately. And just like we planned I called for Leo. It seems that this time freeze not only affected us but also affected everything everywhere. Not even the Elders were aware that time had been frozen."

"After that it was a simple matter to heal all of you," said Leo. "I'm afraid the people in that warehouse have a lot more questions than they have answers. But Dr. Spencer has assured us they won't try that experiment again. At least not until they figure out what went wrong."

"If we ever do," said Malcolm. "As I suspected we didn't get any useable readings from the machine. It's like none of it ever happened. But once I've informed the board of what happened I'm sure they'll want to slow down a bit."

"Yeah, about that," said Piper.

"Don't worry," said Malcolm. "Your secret is safe with me. Frankly, I'm not sure they'd believe me even if I told them. I'll just give them some very extended scientific explanation that none of them will understand anyway. They're quite used to that. Most of the board members are businessmen, not scientists. They rarely understand the technical explanations we give them."

"Well I hope it's a good long time before something like that happens again," said Phoebe. "Frankly it's not a pleasant thought thinking that Piper had to use her explosive power on us to get us out of that freeze. I've seen how that usually works often enough."

"As I explained," said Malcolm, "the machine acted as a sort of governor on her powers. I don't fully understand how your powers work but I do know physics. Actions and reactions are constant even if they are supernaturally caused."

"Suddenly I'm very tired," said Piper.

"Yes, I imagine we all are," said Malcolm. "While time held little meaning for us we were still active quite longer than normal. That's bound to catch up with us. But I'm sure after a good night's sleep we'll all be back to normal."

"You think you'll ever try that experiment again?" Leo asked.

"Some day," said Malcolm. "But not without a great deal more research. It's quite clear that we simply don't understand the nature of what we're dealing with well enough yet. I should be able to convince others in the field to take it a bit slower in the future. Now that we have a future."

"You're sure they'll listen to you?" Piper asked.

"I have a Nobel Prize in physics and I've been nominated twice besides that," said Malcolm. "And some of my colleagues weren't sure we were ready to try just yet anyway. I think with a few explanations that don't involve witches and magic they'll listen to me. Now, I should be going. We're dismantling the machine tomorrow. We don't want a repeat of what happened today."

"Take it easy, Malcolm," said Paige. "I hope it's a good long time before we have the pleasure of your company again, everything considered."

"As do I," said Malcolm.

"He's really a nice guy," Paige said after Malcolm had left.

"Yes, he is," said Piper. "I'm glad he was there to help us. I never would have figured out what was going on without him. I was sure it was demonic related."

"Not everything is demonic related," Leo said. "It's just that you usually are involved in the demonic ones. That's why you immediately thought demons were involved. I'm sure before this if something unusual happened Malcolm would have attributed it to some scientific phenomenon. It has a lot to do with your experience."

"What if someone should try this again?" Phoebe asked. "He intimated there were others working on the same project. It's possible it could happen again."

"The Elders are going to keep an eye on the scientists working on these types of experiments," Leo said. "If they get too close to trying it they'll take appropriate action to see that it doesn't happen again."

"That's good," Piper said. "Once was more than enough for me. Well, I think we could all use a good meal. Eating just sandwiches can get old after a while."

"Good idea," said Paige. "I think I'd better give Peter a call and try to explain what happened to me. Once time resumed I would have just vanished and I'm sure he's wondering what happened. I have no idea what I'm going to tell him."

"You could tell him the truth," smirked Phoebe.

"Oh, yeah, that would go over really well," said Paige. "I'll try to think of something. It's not going to be easy to explain, though."

"The hazards of being a Charmed One, sis," said Piper, hugging her sister. "Now, everyone stay out of the kitchen until I have dinner ready."

"You don't have to tell me twice," said Phoebe. "I know how you get when you're cooking."

Piper headed for the kitchen as Paige sat by the phone trying to think of some explanation that her date would believe.

The End

If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more "Charmed" stories at my website, You can also post your own "Charmed" stories if you like to write fan fiction.


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